Some sort of an organization
by damncritic
Summary: The first time Basher heard it, he scoffed. But it seemed that some people took it very seriously.


**Some sort of an organization**

**By : DC **

Disclaimer : Not mine. Except the story.

Summary : The first time Basher heard it, he scoffed. But it seemed that some people took it very seriously.

Rating : Just cursing.

Note : Never thought that there'd come a day I would write a fic, more so about a movie. But I was inspired by otherhawk's brilliant stories which I am currently addicted with.

* * *

The first time Basher heard it, he scoffed. There's certainly no limit to the kid's eagerness if he can even think of such absurd things like christening them as an organization and worrying about the morality of Emily Dickenson or some crap when they were a hundred million in debt with less than two weeks to get it. Not to mention, they're spending a hell of a lot of fucking time and effort doing a job for only two million dollars and – oh, and let's not forget the threat named Terry Benedict bearing down their necks once the two weeks is over.

No. They were just - quoting Frank - independent contractors who just happened to work together for a big job, nothing more. They are not an organization and they are certainly not _Ocean's_ eleven. Once he uses up his share of money and needs some more, he'll round up some guys – a bit more professional ones this time and not some dumb amateurs who couldn't even get one job done – and they'll hit that bank he had been eyeing on since he came to town. Simple, easy and certainly no need to have a reunion with Danny and the others.

He has nothing against Danny really, and he'd be the first one to say that he likes working with Danny and Rusty. Who wouldn't? They're top of the line professionals with a damn streak of loyalty, brilliance and kindness. That kind of thing is rare in their chosen industry and he had no qualms of working with them again but banding them up together like that is just too absurd.

Which was why it took him several moments to understand why the hell was there a black fox figurine inside the vault instead of the gold bars they were been planning to steal. A fucking black fox beside a sound player containing a very familiar voice announcing that all vaults targeted by any of Ocean's eleven will be empty until they agree to a challenge of his _one_ last time because the Egg job had been unfair and he was a bit unprepared *cough* that they were prepared for him *cough* during the Bank job but this time, this time, he'd treat them like the professionals who did the Bellagio.

One thought crossed his mind immediately after the sound player reached the end of its recording and it was, _Oh shit_. All he could do was maintain eye contact with his partners and keep his face devoid of any emotion because the first thing that any con man _alive_ learns is never to show any weaknesses. Even to the people you are working with. And especially to people you are working with who have damn a good reason to lynch your ass off.

So he kept his mouth shut and waited as his partners' faces shift between awe and outrage. Thankfully, the awe overcame heir anger of leaving empty handed so he didn't have to worry about being maimed or killed as soon as he turned his back. With a couple of "Yes, we were the ones who did that to Bank because he was a cheating sonofabitch." and "No, Benedict didn't murder me or my family or anyone that I know, thankfully", he promised them a successful heist next time, bade them all goodbye, got back to his apartment, took his phone and dialed up the familiar number which was picked up after three rings where he promptly gritted out, "Tell your bloody boyfriend to leave me out of his fucking obsession for you."

Okay, he admits that it wasn't that great of a greeting so Danny's puzzled, and quite alarmed, reply was understandable. But this was really getting frustrating and he needs that money by next week or else his singer won't be able to launch his CD on time and the money and effort he had spent to build him up would have been wasted.

"Toulour! Your fucking Nightdog or whatever! He just screwed me up with this job I've been planning for weeks, and bloody telling me and my men that he'll screw up every job that I'd plan until you fucking accept his challenge for one last fucking time! And until I get this cleared up, no one will want to work with me and I need some bloody money!"

"He did what?! What happened?? You spoke with Toulour?" came Danny's anxious voice.

He didn't have the patience to tell the story more than once so he spoke with gritted teeth, "I'm going down there whether you like it or not and this better be cleared up once and for all. So where the bloody fuck are you?"

Danny told him after a brief silence and he immediately checked the available flights for that week. Keeping in mind the time difference and some other things that he'd need to do, he said, "Got it, I'll be there in three days. That alright?"

He may be mad and all but Danny is one of the few people he respected and he understands that it really wasn't Danny's fault that a certain Frenchman is being a sore as heck of a loser so despite his earlier claim, he wouldn't really barge into his life if Danny says no. So when Danny said that it was fine and that he'd call the others, he was relieved because even though he doesn't know Danny as well as Rusty did, he knows him well enough to hear the unspoken words.

_Don't worry. We'll get this cleared up. And yeah, Toulour is really an asshole. _

And despite his initial derision about the Ocean's Eleven thing, being led by Danny, guided by Rusty and simply having the others there makes him feel more secure about going against, for the second time, the so-called second LeMarc. After all, they were able to do it the first time, so why not a second time? With this thought in mind, he left a few instructions to his manager and took a flight to Montreal.

He arrived in the charming town a little past one and sharply knocked on the door of a cheery looking house. The door immediately opened and he was greeted by a chicken lollipop. With Rusty holding the other end.

"Come on in, the others are here." Rusty waved the chicken lollipop and he disappeared inside the house.

He followed Rusty to the living room and saw Saul ensconced in front of the television, Reuben talking with Danny by the window, Yen was curled up lazily by the sofa playing cards with Frank and Livingston doing something on his laptop.

"Where're the others?" he asked as he laid his bags down by the staircase.

"This is everyone." Rusty told him, heading off to the kitchen holding an empty plate.

Danny nodded to him in greeting and Reuben went to sit beside Saul. "The twins are stuck in the middle of a job down in Jersey and Linus is getting them out from jail."

"Trouble?" he immediately asked, concerned.

"Nah, just some disruption to public peace and all." Rusty's voice chimed in from the kitchen. "But they're in a small town who never heard of the Feds so they can't use Bobby to bail them out. And Linus said that the locals there were quite vicious, so it may take some time to get them out but they'll try to catch up."

He nodded. "So it's just us then?"

"Yup, just us." Rusty walked out of the kitchen with a plate full of shrimp and went to where Danny was standing with Reuben. "Saul, turn the TV off."

With the television off, there was silence in the room, and he felt Danny gaze at all of them – assessing, evaluating – his natural aura of leadership take its place and expressing itself to everyone, including him.

"So," Danny started, "now that everyone's here –"

"-everyone who can make it, that is." Rusty chimed in.

"-let's get down to business." Danny continued. "The reason I called you all down here is because Basher here had a run-in with our favorite thief during one of his jobs and he did to him what he did to us with the Matsui thing and told him – correct me if I'm wrong Bash – that he won't stop screwing all of us up until we take on his challenge one last time."

"Now what I want to know -" Before Danny could continue however, the message sank in everyone's minds and a multitude of violent reactions ensued.

"Wait, you mean, Toulour is stalking all of us now?!" he heard Reuben exclaim, the feeling of violation evident in his voice. "Don't tell me he's planning a job on one of my casinos now!"

"So that's why my dog can't win any races and always places last – " Saul began to mutter.

" – I don't think he'll do that Saul." Rusty replied, trying hard not to smile.

" – and what does he mean by 'us' taking up his challenge'? Don't tell me he called us Ocean's elev – did he call us Ocean's eleven? Frank demanded from him.

"He bloody hell did." he muttered, which brought about another string of grievances from the expert dealer while Yen had added some Chinese words that he didn't bother trying to understand.

"What did we ever do to him that makes him hate us so much? I don't think - " Livingston pitched in but Frank's loud voice drowned the rest of his words.

"I told you to clear this thing up Danny!" Frank was standing up, waving around agitatedly. "A job's a job and it had been fine and dandy working with you but I'm my own man and I do my own jobs! I don't need some guys tagging me as one of Ocean's eleven."

All in all, everybody seems to have something to say. Everybody except Rusty, who was looking at them and at Danny with amusement dancing on his face, and Danny who was looking at Rusty wryly.

"Gentlemen, gentlemen. Let's get back to the topic." Danny spoke once again after giving them a few moments to air their grievances, his authoritative figure enough to silence even Frank. "Now, what I want to know is if any of you encountered the same thing as Basher." He looked around and the rest were silent. "Okay… Who here have used up their portion of the money?"

He raised his hand and it looks like Rusty did too.

"Who here has done a job lately?"

Nobody raised his hand except for himself. Danny raised his eyebrow. "Rus?"

Rusty grinned. "Nope, haven't done that job yet. Think I'm getting a hang of the hotel business, though I was thinking of it when you called me."

Danny sighed. "Okay, so basically, we can't say how serious Toulour is about this challenge thing since only Basher tried doing a job. I mean, he can't have all of us in surveillance all of the time and – "

The front doorbell suddenly rang, cutting off Danny's words. He saw Danny give a quick glance at Rusty in confusion before disappearing through the hallway leading to the front door. Wondering what that was all about and just noticing that he hasn't seen Tess at all, he asked Rusty, "Tess?"

Rusty waved his hand about. "Nah, she's at her cousin's house, helping them plan for her aunt's second wedding or something. Must be the neighbors." Rusty replied casually before straightening up and addressing the rest of them, fitting naturally in his role of second-in-command.

"Anyway, what Danny was saying is that there's no way Toulour can keep tabs on all of us, and even more impossible that he'd always be one step ahead of _all_ of us and rob everything that we can lay our eyes on. So, what we can do is to – " Rusty suddenly stopped and looked up when Danny suddenly stepped in view looking disgruntled at the piece of paper in his hand. And after some sort of wordless communication between them, Rusty muttered, "No shit."

"Uh-huh. You bet." Danny replied, the irritation evident in those two words as he handed the piece of paper to Rusty. Rusty quickly scanned the paper and, with an amused quirk on his lips, looked back at Danny.

"Basher's right, he does have a – "

"– don't start it or else I'm telling Isabel about that thing in Hawaii."

"…fine. But you really have one irritating – "

"– you think I don't know? I'd love to give him to you, if that's what you – "

"– no thanks, he's your problem. And don't blame me, I wasn't the one who was blurting out things to – "

" – can't you get your father-in-law to just – "

" – weren't you there with me when we tried – "

" – yeah, yeah I know."

They both fell silent and looked deep in contemplation. He looked around and it seemed like nobody understood what just happened, as always, and it would only be a few moments until Reuben –

"Okay. What happened?" Reuben demanded from the both of them.

Danny looked at Rusty first and, after Rusty's nod, Danny replied. "Well…" Danny was looking at Reuben but he knew that they were all being addressed. "We have some bit of bad news."

He could already feel himself groaning inside. Bad news already? Even before they started? He waited for Danny to continue.

"It looks like Toulour _can_ keep track of all of us and that he's serious – I mean, serious about this challenge to us." Danny said and Rusty handed the paper to Reuben to pass on to the others. "That letter was left in front of the door a while ago and it says that he's been surveying us for quite some time, to the point that he even knows what Rusty's planning for his job – which he got correctly. Not only that…"

Incredulous looks appeared as the piece of paper was read passed on to the next person.

"…he's most probably monitoring us right now, and he knows that we know he's monitoring us. So we can't fool him like that time with the Egg."

"You mean, just the both of you fooling him." Reuben retorted. "Because I certainly didn't know that he was monitoring us and I doubt the others did too. And don't think I've forgotten about our much needed talk regarding certain etiquette rules about treating more senior members Danny. You too Rusty."

He saw Danny and Rusty wince slightly and he nodded in agreement. Keeping Linus in the dark during the Benedict job was understandable – being a new face and a rookie, but he had been working with both Danny and Rusty for so long already that it's unfair and it just hurts to think that they didn't trust him enough to think he can act his end. He remembered the feeling of defeat when he saw the others got arrested even before they got to the museum, leaving only three of them to think up of a whacked up, last minute plan that would hopefully get them out of Benedict's noose.

"It's not that we don't trust you or anything Reuben." Danny started, his voice conciliatory. "It's just that–"

" - we didn't know how to make it as natural as possible." Rusty continued, his voice equally pacifying. "Look at Linus, he even thought of doing a lookie-loo with Tess, and we wouldn't have thought of that –" he stopped at Reuben's stare. "Fine, we did, but we didn't know that they would really think of pulling that off. And - "

"- it really wouldn't have gone as well if we tried to plan it all because, let's admit, there were a lot of bumps -" which garnered a stare from Rusty. " - I mean, detours along the way which we couldn't have planned at all." Danny ended.

And he hated to admit it but they might be right. The thing wouldn't have gone that smoothly if Danny and Rusty told them about the plan. Well, he would certainly not have gone through all the trouble with Tess if he knew about it, and it might have been a cause of suspicion from Toulour.

Livingston passed the paper to him – the one which Danny was holding when he came back from answering the door - and he saw the challenge that Toulour spoke of in the sound player written on it. Addressed only to the eight of them currently in Danny's house. As if Toulour knew that Linus and the twins would not be able to come. And the date was dated today.

"I-Isn't this illegal or something?" Livingston objected. "I mean, he isn't the Feds so this a violation of privacy. And even if he is, it's still a violation because we're not doing anything wrong. We can report him with harassment to the police - "

"Yes, and he'll have evidence against us when they catch him." Rusty immediately headed off that line of thought. "He'd most probably have video tapes with us planning the Egg job. No, we can't involve the police in this."

"So…" he started slowly, because he still couldn't seem to accept what was happening, "basically, he's threatening to expose us if we don't… play with him?"

"Well… if you put it that way…" Danny trailed off, but he could hear, as well as the others, the resounding 'yes' at the end.

"The hell…" he groaned. "Danny –" He could feel a headache starting. This is _not_ happening. Why are they being hounded by this bored and rich and talented sonofabitch? Wasn't it enough that he screwed them up with Benedict and once more _with_ Benedict?

"I know Bash, but what can I do?" Danny shrugged helplessly. "The man wants to be known as the better thief and I did tell him, to his face, that he's the greatest thief – "

" – after which you told him to pay up the hundred million to Benedict because he lost despite being the better thief - " Rusty added in.

" – so I don't know what else that he wants." Danny finished, giving Rusty a look for his unhelpful addition. "And that leaves us with getting on with this challenge, which will take place in –"

"- Sotheby's auction house in New York." Rusty stated, already beside Livingston to search for maps in the internet. "They're famous for auctioning well known paintings like Van Gogh, Renoir, Bacon and some others – and the target's the Garcon a la Pipe - some work of Picasso that's worth around a hundred million. Hopefully - "

" – well hopefully, this will be the end of it." Danny continued seamlessly. "Don't worry, if we win, we'll get your money. And if we lose… well… it will soothe some ruffled feathers and you won't have to worry about your jobs in the future. Either way, it's a win-win situation. Don't you think?"

He sighed. Leave it to Danny to see, or wring out, the good side of things. "Fine. So what's the plan?"

Danny gave him that smile which had hooked him in for the impossible Bellagio heist and he could only resign in defeat against his undeniable charm. Danny looked around at the room. "Is everybody in?"

He knew what their answer will be. Of course they're in. This was Danny they're talking about. Danny and Rusty. And if they'd follow Danny if he'd tell them they will steal from a castle on the clouds, they'd follow Danny and Rusty to the ends of the earth to steal from the devil himself.

He tuned out to the plans that the others are pitching in to solve either the Nightfox irritation, the challenge, or both problems. In the end, he knows that Danny and Rusty will make sure that the plan they'd follow would be the best. Right now, he just needed some breathing space.

He silently slipped out of the room to the kitchen to get a glass of water – or beer, if he can find any – and he was rummaging through the refrigerator when he heard someone shuffling around the area. Taking a quick peek, he saw a blond head poking just outside the oven door which, if he remembers seeing previously, was baking some brownies.

Ah. Rusty.

He got back to his search, found some beer – fortunately - and wasn't surprised when he heard Rusty's voice, asking casually. "You okay Bash?"

Rusty is a friend and he had worked with him in several jobs so he understood what Rusty wasn't saying.

_Sorry about the screw up man. We'll make things better. It's not Danny's fault. Don't blame him. He's feeling guilty enough as it is. So if you're done sulking, let's get back and stop the man from worrying._

Yes, he knew that it wasn't Danny's fault. It wasn't Danny's fault that he got the idea of the Bellagio job from someone who couldn't keep his mouth shut and blabbed it to a certain someone who is too sore a loser to graciously admit defeat. And it wasn't Danny's fault for doing whatever he can to save all of their asses from the pissed off Benedict, resulting to making a bigger fool of that certain someone. And most of all, he understands that Danny is just the kind of person who wanted to make it worth their while for all the effort that they exerted with the Bank job because he felt responsible for what happened to Reuben, and he needed their help for making things right and he couldn't just ask them to drop their lives and jobs because he wasn't able to stop Reuben from making a mistake.

No. Danny just wanted what was best for all of them and if Toulour was insulted or offended from all that… well… Danny was just looking after them. And he couldn't stay mad at Danny for all that.

He shook his head. "Nah, I'm fine. Just needed a drink, that's all. The pompous ass is just getting to my nerves. I mean, what kind of ego does this guy have to keep on screwing us up like this?"

Rusty gave him a smile of understanding and tried to offer some comfort. "Well, if it's anybody's fault, it's Benedict's."

He raised an eyebrow. "And how did you come up with that?"

"Well," Rusty started, while he poured himself a glass of iced tea. "Benedict was the one who started the whole 'Ocean's eleven' thing. And we all know that he's on speaking terms with Toulour. So since Toulour is starting to call us Ocean's eleven as well…"

"…" Uh-huh.

"Wouldn't be to farfetched to say that Toulour got hooked on the idea of Ocean's eleven from Benedict." Rusty grinned at him.

He could only shake his head and chuckle, his bad mood immediately disappearing. If Danny is the one who charms veteran con men with his smooth talking and charisma so that they'd join him in impossible jobs, then Rusty is the one keeping them together with his quick witted solutions and irrefutable logic, however twisted and absurd it ends up being.

"So, it's Benedict's fault…"

"Yep. If you want, me and Danny can think of a plan to screw him up. A bit."

He looked at Rusty as if he's out of his mind. They just barely escaped from the skin of their teeth from their last encounter with Benedict and they're proposing to jump back into the crocodile's lair once more? "A… bit?"

"Yeah, I mean, just a little something for all the trouble that he's making us go through." Rusty added and was about to elaborate when he raised his hand up in front of him.

"You and Danny can screw Benedict to hell for all I care. Just don't make me a part of it." Remembering how he easily capitulated to Danny's grin and Rusty's explanation, he added, "Or just… make sure that he knows that I wasn't a willing participant for whatever you have in mind for him."

Rusty laughed and raised his glass for a toast with him.

"To hell with Benedict."

"Add Toulour in the ride there."

"Our pleasure."

So with that, they headed back to the living room and got on with the plans on how to screw-up-Toulour-and-let's-include-Benedict-with-him-as-well. Of course, this was Toulour they were talking about – the protégée of the genius thief LeMarc, the master thief that even the Interpol had recognized and still couldn't catch despite their numerous resources on hand. So with the best thief out there seeing their every move and knowing that they know he's looking at their every move, it naturally ended up with them following the plan and getting screwed up by Toulour, with the police hunting for them for three days already, miles away from the targeted auction house, hiding for what seemed like hours inside the dumpsters trying to brush their scent off the police dogs that was dispatched all over the place.

In the morning, after the police had finally moved on to the next town for the search - he could swear that even his sense of smell have been permanently impaired - while Toulour had skipped along merrily stealing the targeted painting, they emerged from the dumpsters irritated and smelly and in a very, very bad mood. Except for two of them, it seemed, but nothing really fazes the two of them.

He saw Danny nonchalantly pick the banana peel hanging off his shoulder and throw it back to the one of the garbage cans by the side. Rusty, on the other hand, was calmly scraping something that looks suspiciously like dog shit off his boots.

"Well…" Danny started, looking at all of them, taking in the disgruntlement on their faces. "That's it I guess. Toulour wouldn't bother us after this."

"- hopefully." Rusty added.

"He bloody better not." He muttered, still feeling sore for having been beaten by another thief, even if it would mean that the said thief would keep out of his way from now on. There's still something called professional pride you know. "His ego should have been stroked enough to last him a lifetime."

Saul straightened up and, with as much dignity as possible with someone who has wet noodles hanging off his hat and smelling of spoiled milk. "Well it's good that it have come to an end and all Daniel, Robert, but if I'm going to be stand here for another minute –" his voice let off threateningly.

"Which you're not." Rusty smoothly injected as he reached into his pocket, pulled out a key and handed it over to Saul. "Buffalo Inn. Number 49a, b and c. They're connecting rooms and have a bathroom each so…"

He didn't have to say that some will have to be in their smelly getup for a bit longer. And considering that seniority would have privileges here, it looks like Saul Reuben and Danny would have first dibs to the showers –

"Well, you guys can go freshen up first while me and Rusty check our stuff in the hotel so if you guys left anything important that you'd like us to pick-up –" Danny started.

- though it seems like Danny's relinquishing that right. And speaking of hotels, they do have their own rooms there –

" – nothing too big that we couldn't bring out in a jiffy. Since Toulour mouthed us off to the police and had them chasing us for days already, it wouldn't be far off that he told them about our hotel as well so they might be heading there in a while."

Okay, makes sense. It's just like Toulour to find amusement in having them arrested by the police while they smelled of last week's dinner. Reminded him of what happened with the Egg job.

Which is really amazing of Danny really, how he can read another person that deeply to even know how he would think and act. That experience, or to be more precise, that insight is what sets him apart from the other con men out there. It's no wonder that despite him and the others being professional con men in their own rights, they would stop and listen to Danny and follow his strange, but always purposeful directions. Even if those directions are just to have fun and mess up with one rookie's head.

So, with only Livingston requesting that they retrieve his various gadgets that might possibly lead back to him, which Danny looked naturally clueless about and Rusty just nodded to and dragged Danny off, they headed towards the inn which was bit on the seedier part of the area so nobody gave their dirty appearances a second glance. Not that they were looking since all of them were deep in their thoughts of depression misery from both the failure of the job and their current state of being. Which was why when they couldn't help but stand there and gape when they opened their room door and saw Linus amidst several paintings that looked _very_ familiar,

"Hey guys!" Linus smiled happily. "Great job with the sensors and camera!"

He stared at Linus uncomprehendingly along with the others when he noticed what Linus was holding a packaging tape. "What're you doing?"

Linus followed his line of sight. "Oh, we didn't want to stay long at the auction house since the police might come back so we just took the paintings and did the packing when we got back here." Linus waved at the Cezanne and the Rothko painting he had finished packing. "We're just about to finish. Turk and Virgil are loading the others in the van. So how did you guys keep Toulour from the place? Danny and Rusty never did tell us."

Huh? What was he talking about?

It seemed that the confusion showed in his face and the faces of the others as well because Linus looked at each one of them before saying. "Didn't you get Toulour away from the auction house?"

"Hell no. Do we look like we've been getting Toulour away?" Frank said, stepping closer to Linus, the smell of puke and rotting fish and everything else unimaginable seeping off from his clothes.

Linus stepped back unconsciously. "Uh… well…" Linus looked a bit lost. "But Danny said that you guys will handle Toulour so that we can get all the paintings there without any distractions." Linus said, looking back and forth from Frank and the rest of them. "Rusty even said that we don't have to worry about the security because these would all be taken care of, and it was. And Toulour was not there and we got all the paintings." He paused for a second. "Well, all except one which Toulour most probably got…Where're Danny and Rusty anyway?" Linus looked around, searching for the two masterminds.

"Back at the hotel gathering some things." Reuben said, as he sat down on a chair, never minding the filth that fell off him and those that still clung to him. "Start from the beginning kid. First off, when did you guys get here? I thought you and the twins were still stuck in jail?"

And so Linus spoke of the vague instructions he got from Rusty when he was just about to bail the twins out of the country jail, the appearance of a countryside sheriff who Danny called to bail the twins out, and the strange written instructions telling them what to do and what to expect when they got to the auction house, which Danny and Rusty hid and they had to hunt like Easter Eggs because they were told never to contact any of them via phone.

It seemed that while Danny and Rusty were both sitting with them in the dumpsters, their _other_ plan – the plan that nobody knew of, the plan that they formed using their alien mind speech at the same time they planned along with the group – moved along smoothly. Quite smoothly in fact, judging from the number of paintings stacked around the room.

"So let me get this straight." Frank said after Linus finished explaining. "You're telling me that they told you the challenge with Toulour was about getting all the paintings in the auction house. And that you were supposed to go in after you see Toulour come out and that they were positively sure that it would take him a while to secure a painting so you better had taken everything else before he comes back? And you actually believed all their bullshit?"

"Well I wanted to ask them how could that stop Toulour but… I mean…they told me not to make any contact so… and Toulour must be watching and I didn't know if I'd make things worse…" And Linus fell silent.

He couldn't really blame the kid for following their instructions, quite impressively in fact, because no matter how absurd the plan sounded like, this was Danny and Rusty and they just didn't plan things without reason and they wouldn't give the job to anyone they didn't think can pull it off. And it seemed that their appraisal of the kid has come a long way from the uncertain rookie they had first worked with during the Benedict job.

"Oh man… why do they always do this to me?" Linus groaned, his figure slumping, obviously miserable. "I knew something must be up when we were starting to find those messages in chocolate wrappers and orange peels. Why can't they just trust me with –"

"They trust you kid, don't doubt that." Reuben said consolingly. "They wouldn't have left you to steal the paintings yourself, without any back-up, mind you, if they didn't trust that you'd be able to do it." And he could see the rest of them nodding in agreement. The kid did great this time. And with only the twins as support. Up against Toulour even.

"Yeah… but did they have to stick the notes in food that we were eating? Turk accidentally ate one of notes hidden inside the pizza we ordered before we realized that it came from them – heck, we had to piece it back together to make sense of it. How did they even know what we were going to order in the first place?"

He can remember that time when dinner came in the form of Japanese sashimi and pizza, with Danny reasoning that it was Rusty's taste buds that brought about the strange combination.

"Well Toulour is a thief and he knows the usual plays so Danny and Rusty had to improvise on things – " Saul started to reason.

"And a banana?!" Linus interrpted. "How did they put a message inside – as in literally inside – a banana?? Good thing Virgil noticed it before he swallowed."

So that explained the bananas littered all over the place. Though that didn't explain how they were able to put something inside a fruit without mangling it. Seemed that Danny and Rusty were having a bit of harmless fun on the side. Poor kid.

"…Toulour is a _master_ thief and Danny and Rusty _really_ had to improvise on a _lot_ of things to get things done." Saul rephrased while maintaining a poker for the kid's sake.

"You think so?" Linus brightened up.

"Yes and you better finish that packing while before both of them comes back." With that, Linus quickly finished wrapping the paintings he was holding and carried it outside the door. There was a brief silence as the remaining people recalled what just happened.

"Poor kid…" Livingston said, saying what he had in mind previously, which Yen agreed to in Chinese.

"They just love him." Saul reasoned out, trying to defend his once-a-time protégée.

"If that's how they show their affection, I wonder what they'd do to people who pisses them off." Frank muttered.

"And they're in big trouble." Reuben grumpily stated. "They're brilliant, but in very big trouble for keeping us out of the loop once again. But first, I'm off to the showers." And he left toward the adjoining room, Saul immediately following behind him.

He looked at Yen, Livingston and Frank, and judging from the dispositions of each, it seemed like Yen will be the one getting the last bathroom. He sat down in front of the television and got hold of the remote, idly switching the channels. After a moment, he saw Livingston sit on the chair by the side and Frank on the other side of him.

There was nothing on that was particularly interesting so after a few more minutes of channel surfing, he stopped at the late night news show, wondering if it would have already picked up on the heist.

"_And so, the latest news for tonight. It seems that there was a massive break-in at the Sotheby's auction house just earlier tonight."_

Looks like they already did, and the anchorwoman proceeded to describe the incredible and impossible painting heist which they had missed while waiting alongside garbage cans. It seemed that Sotheby was one of the most guarded auction house in the country and it was cleaned out of its paintings – the total of which would cost more than half a billion dollars. Done by none other than the notorious Night Fox.

"Half a billion…" Frank said incredulously, exchanging glances with him and Livingston. "That would give each of us…"

He couldn't help the grin that was forming on his face and saw that Livingston was smiling as well, and the stink and dirt he clinging to him didn't seem as bad anymore. This was the reason he loved working with Danny and Rusty. And if Reuben found the three of them laughing their hearts out, it's Danny and Rusty's fault for having the balls to not only screw up Toulour, but also Terry Benedict. At the same time.

"_And certain sources tell us that there is actually a painting that wasn't stolen - Van Gogh painting depicting Irises – and that there was a message left beneath the paintings addressed to a certain Terry Benedict saying how it 'matched his eyes and that it would be a crime to steal something that would remind him of his beauty'. Well, it looks to me that this wily she-fox has an interest in a certain Las Vegas casino owner, but rest assured that the police will investigate this incident thoroughly…"_

***

_Three years later…_

He was in the middle of a recording when his phone rang. Picking it up, he saw Rusty's name flash along the screen and he could only sigh before he answered it. "Yeah?"

"Hey Bash, you busy right now?" Rusty's voice seemed a bit too perky for his taste. And he could hear a voice that sounded suspiciously like Frank shouting in the background.

" - is this guy's problem?! I swear to God, Danny, if he refers to us as Ocean's Eleven one more time - "

He closed his eyes. "Don't tell me…"

"Yup."

He couldn't help but slap his other hand to his forehead. "Who is it this time?"

"Yen." And he can hear the string of Chinese curses that followed after Frank's voice.

"You know," he started, "with the way he's been targeting us again and again, I am seriously starting to believe that he has a crush on Danny."

"Yup, that's what I keep telling him. And with the number of times he's been screwing us up – " He could feel the amusement leaking from the other end of the line. "- word's out on the street that there's a showdown going on between the Night Fox and Ocean's Eleven to see who will be taking LeMarc's mantle."

"That's bull. Toulour can have the title of the greatest fucking thief in the world for all I care. And there's no such thing as Ocean's Eleven."

"Seems that Toulour has left quite a few of his 'challenge' MDs lying around and Interpol got hold of them. So they formed a team to investigate the members comprising of Ocean's Eleven, the group that rivals the protégée of LeMarc."

What the fuck??!

"And they even have studies that explain how the word Ocean pertains to the Blue Ocean theory in business where there are no limits to profit, and Eleven is some sort of an acronym of the names of the members of the team."

Uh-huh…

"'Danny Ocean and his group of eleven' seems a bit prosaic, I guess."

"…I'll be down there in three days." And he shut his phone and started to gather the things that he would need while softly cursing Frenchmen and being damn sore losers under his breath.

The End.

* * *

Hope you liked it!


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